One of my favorite vendors of bike-related accessories is J&P Cycles, based in Anamosa, Iowa. Great store, great catalog, friendly/helpful folks… and enough chrome and leather to keep a girl shopping for a LONG time!

Well this month, J&P is spreading the Daytona Bike Week love – not only at their Anamosa and Daytona locations, but also around the blogosphere by offering $50 Gift Cards through several bloggers. And, I’m lucky enough to snag one of these cards to give away to one of you!

SO – if you want to win a $50 J&P Cycles gift card, good for motorcycle parts and accessories purchased online, via their catalog, or in person at one of their locations, here’s all you do:

Leave a comment on this blog post, letting me know what you’d like to buy from J&P if you win. (One comment per person please.) Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win, and be sure to git ‘er done before midnight, March 14.

The winner will be randomly drawn from all comments, and will be notified by email.

One of my favorite patches, currently awaiting the opportunity to be sewn to my leather vest, is the embroidered version of that famous World War II poster showing a woman flexing her biceps and proclaiming “We Can Do It!” The character, which came to be known as Rosie the Riveter, embodied the spirit of America’s working women who filled the stateside factory jobs vacated by men who were called to war.

I was interested to learn that a real person was used as the model for that now-famous poster: Geraldine Hoff Doyle was just seventeen when she took a factory job near Detroit, Michigan to support the burgeoning war effort. A photographer for United Press International snapped a photo of Geraldine, and that photo was later used as the basis for a poster supporting an anti-absenteeism campaign at Westinghouse. The image was not widely circulated because Westinghouse’s campaign was an internal employee-focused effort, but later was embraced by the American feminist movement.
The muscular young woman depicted on the poster was not originally named Rosie. The poster began to gain some popularity among women workers and a song titled “Rosie the Riveter” received frequent play on radio stations. Around the same time, Norman Rockwell published an illustration of a hard-working war-time gal whose name, ‘Rosie,” was emblazoned on her lunch pail. All of these influences converged, and the girl shown on the poster began to be known as Rosie the Riveter.

Ms. Doyle left her factory work after only a few short weeks, and took a position at a local soda fountain. She married and raised a family, and had no idea she was the inspiration for the now-famous poster until the 1980’s, when she happened to find an article about it in an AARP publication.

She passed away in December, 2010, at the age of 86, from complications of arthritis. Her iconic image continues to not only inspire women; it represents a true turning point in American history, when women first began in earnest to prove their worth in the male-dominated workforce.

I just could not pass this up – a new study of British women has shown that 46 percent of them rarely have orgasms. This sad news is sure to put a damper on worldwide celebrations of National Orgasm Day, coming up July 31.

Fortunately for me, I own a pre-2004, non-rubber-mounted Sportster so I do not have this problem.

In reading about the study, however, I was surprised to learn that we’ve all probably been doing our Kegel exercises wrong – unless we learned them personally from Dr. Arnold Kegel. These exercises actually serve two purposes: they help relieve stress incontinence (if you pee when you laugh or cough, do your Kegels), and they help women achieve vaginal orgasm. Kegel, it seems, was pretty sure that to be effective, his exercises should be done “against a resistance.” This part of the Kegel puzzle seems to have been largely forgotten, however, so they’re often taught incorrectly – unless, of course, you own a pre-2004 Sporty.

“The Dakota” will be the featured auction item during the Kids & Chrome 2008 benefit dinner and auction on Wednesday, August 6, in Spearfish, South Dakota at the Spearfish Holiday Inn and Convention Center.

What’s really painful about this is that the history of the town is so wrapped up in the history of the restaurant – it has been in operation since 1852 and was Iowa’s oldest restaurant and tavern. Numerous irreplaceable antiques were destroyed also, which had decorated the restaurant.

I hate to see any community lose a historic landmark. My heart goes out to the Breitbach family and to all of Balltown. Here’s wishing you a speedy rebuild!

It’d be nice to think that “biker gang” activity is a thing of the past, that the old school gangs are just a bunch of guys who simply want to be free to ride their machines without being hassled by the man. Certainly there are people who adopt the look of the old school MC’s, but who don’t live the lifestyle.

Still, I’m not naive. I know that illegal activity still happens, which is why I try to give “one percenters” a wide berth whenever I take note of their presence: I’m pretty sure they don’t need me hovering around trying to chat them up like we were best biker buddies.

Today the US Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced a string of indictments against Outlaws Motorcycle Club members in Michigan and Indiana. The indictments were the results of “a five-year investigation by the ATF, the FBI, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department, the South Bend (Ind.) Police Department, and the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Police Department,” according to a USDOJ news release.

The release stated:

The 18-count indictment alleges that the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is an enterprise whose members allegedly committed, attempted, and threatened to commit acts of violence to protect and expand the gang’s criminal operations. Several of the defendants were charged with allegedly assaulting various members of the rival Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, in some cases with dangerous weapons including a cane, a hammer, and motorcycle parts. Several defendants allegedly trafficked in the sale of drugs, including methamphetamine, marijuana, hashish and cocaine, while others were charged with various firearms offenses for either being a felon in possession of a handgun, or selling a firearm to a prohibited person. The indictment contains a criminal forfeiture allegation, which sets forth property, vehicles, motorcycles, weapons and currency that was either used to conduct or facilitate illegal activities, or which were proceeds from the Outlaws’ criminal activities.